Asia

Japanese politicians

Check to the kingpin

FUNDING scandals linked to Ichiro Ozawa, kingpin of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), have hung over the party like a black cloud since even before it took power in September 2009. A more public-spirited politician might have withdrawn from politics, to draw fire from the party he helped create. But Mr Ozawa has never been one to let altruism get the better of him. Despite being suspended by the DPJ, he has stubbornly refused to be sidelined by the scandal. That has given the opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) free rein to attack the ruling party's financial affairs, never minding that it was a master of the sort of shenanigans during its half a century of rule.

But on September 26th, Mr Ozawa's position appears to have been weakened substantially. Three of his former lieutenants were convicted (with suspended jail sentences) of having broken the Political Funds Control Law, to observers' surprise. Mr Ozawa's trial on similar charges starts next week. It is not clear whether there is any hard evidence linking Mr Ozawa to the illegal money his aides are supposed to have taken on behalf of his political organisation. It is, however, worth noting that the Tokyo District court, which sentenced the three, stated in its decision that there were “cosy relationships over the years between Mr Ozawa's office and companies”. Those companies were the ones that bid for lucrative public-works contracts, some in Mr Ozawa's home state.

The outcome of Mr Ozawa's trial, which is expected to finish next April, is bound to influence the long-running civil war between Mr Ozawa's group in the DPJ and those on the anti-Ozawa side. Of late, this struggle has gone mercifully quiet. The fledgling prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, has made a point of not trying to antagonise the Ozawa faction, and has given key posts in the DPJ to the kingpin's allies.Indeed, some say Mr Noda has gone too far. Others, however, believe Mr Ozawa does not represent as much of a threat as he once did.

The immediate danger for Mr Noda is that the judgment against the three men once again puts Mr Ozawa in the opposition's line of fire. In his first weeks in office, Mr Noda has done his best to avoid the pointless personality clashes that characterise Japanese politics; he wants everyone to focus on policy—in this case rebuilding the Tohoku region shattered by the earthquake and tsunami of March 11th and fixing the effects of the Fukushima nuclear-power plant meltdown. But the LDP and its handmaidens in the national media will do their best to undermine this effort. Much of the Japanese establishment (including the DPJ) appears to have a sick obsession with personality and power struggles, and seem only too happy to let policy debates fall by the wayside, however urgent they are. Already Nobuteru Ishihara, the LDP's secretary-general, has called for Mr Ozawa's resignation from the parliament; others have called on him to testify before the Diet. All of this puts Mr Noda, who blithely calls himself the “no sides” politician, in a delicate position. He will be loth to antagonise the Ozawa crowd by echoing the LDP; but he will also be deeply reluctant to revive old hostilities with the LDP when he needs its support to pass reconstruction bills. It should be a good test of Mr Noda's mettle. Don't expect Mr Ozawa to co-operate, however. As weakened as he is, it is probably too much to expect he will behave in a way that is good for anyone but himself.

Readers' comments

PourquoiPas,
The Japanese word 'ken' is most commonly translated as prefecture in English. However, the author in this case was clearly using state in a general sense to refer to the political division that is larger than municipal but smaller than federal.
And you meant to say imply instead of infer. The speaker implies; the listener infers.

...it is probably too much to expect he [Mr. Ozawa] will behave in a way that is good for anyone but himself.

More accurate, perhaps, to say that Mr. Ozawa will behave in a way that feeds his ego, regardless of what is good for him (let alone anyone else).

A less arrogant man would have figured out that backing off from his enthusiasm for political intrigue would have significantly reduced the chances of being embarrassed by a conviction on corruption charges. But apparently Mr. Ozawa is not capable of seeing that he might suffer such a fate.

Ichiro Ozawa, who once arrogantly challenged the former prime minister Naoto Kan last September to take the seat, now faces many difficulties only to diminish the share of DPJ. This funniest fox in Japan must feel embarrassed about the position he should stands in and about the next step. For at least 20 years, he has conflicted too many political figures by using cunniest means including the same party’s comrade and most of then prime ministers so that the more and more people alienated him and for the time being tell him that don’t play anymore. I think that the only choice for him is to leave this political arena for a better and more comfortable retirement.

Despite a very tough year for Japan, it is comforting to hear that Prime Minister Noda is trying to avoid political games and focus on policy. Japan needs to unify its focus in order to recover from natural disaster and a stagnant economy. The political dysfunction of Japanese that is exemplified by Ichiro Ozawa are only adding to the country's problems. If Japan wants to see itself recover from the earthquake and economic woes, it must change the mindset of its politics. Unfortunately, with news like this, it may be hard to do. It is good to hear, however, that the Prime Minister is focused on how to improve the country rather than politics.

First off, a state is an area with space, people who share a common interest, and has a border. So no, he is totally correct in saying that it is his home state. For example, the EU is becoming more and more like the United States of Europe. That doesn't mean that they are American, does it? nope.

Back to the article, if this is true he probably used the tsunami earlier this year as a way to get through to the funds when nobody was looking, which is despicable. I'm little informed about japanese politics other than the government there can't hold its ground. Ozawa, and the rest of the people part of this scandal, should feel ashamed and embarrassed. They took advantage of a people in need for the personal gain.

Japan should just let their judicial court system do it's job. If Ozawa is guilty then so be it, let him go through the process and if he is incriminated, then he'll be deemed guilty. Otherwise, Noda needs to instead focus on Japan's economy and also with the recent natural disasters, I'm sure he has a lot of other matters on his hand to worry about instead of something such as this.

Prime Minister Noda has his head on straight regarding keeping the country’s economic status as his primary focus; however, he will soon have to face the evil rules of political games. In his attempt to play mediator he will find it difficult, especially with keeping good terms with the LDP. In regards to Ozawa: The DPJ must put aside political differences and look forth in their arguments in terms of policy rather than politicians. Same for the LDP- Ozawa is down, and he’ll be down for a while, focus on a liberal approach to Japanese policy and be done with it. This he-said she-said will go nowhere except in your economic downfall!

I'm surprised to see that Japanese politicians are more concerned with personality battles than with rebuilding the country. Japan has been hit with natural disasters and I think Mr. Noda is right in not choosing a side in a petty battle and instead focusing on his people who need help. If Mr. Ozawa is guilty, then he will be taken care of by the court system and the political parties should let the judicial system do its job and move on to more important matters.

Its funny that the Japanese are fighting over political corruption while the country suffered a terrible disaster, but it is heartening to see that the new Prime Minister is trying to calm things down and to focus Japan's political efforts towards rebuilding the country. However, Japanese politics is unstable, which is evident in the 6 prime ministers who took office in the past 5 years, therefore I think that the politicians will focus on Ozawa's resignation and will not change its focus.

Mr. Noda is very wise in choosing to invest his efforts in policy adherence and restoration of the areas that were damaged by the tsunami. Voluntarily entering into a "no-win" situation by voicing any form of reception or rejection towards Mr. Ozawa, his lieutenants, or any aspect of their apparent violation of the political funds control law would definitely point Mr. Noda to the exit door in a hurry. The DPJ has violated the law, and the LDP has done so as well, so allow the courts to decide their responsibility in this matter as needed. The numerous loopholes in the political funds law will ensure that these corporate funds continue to make it to the bottomless pockets of individual politicians from both sides. Ethical commentary from the new prime minister would have no effect in eliciting an admission of apparent guilt from Mr. Ozawa, and it would have even less of an effect of preventing either party from manipulating the stipulations of the law in the future.

The Japanese government seems unable to get themselves out of this rut and functioning again- it seems that they are more interested in causing drama then fixing problems. This has been continuing for so long that it's possible that many of them don't know how to do anything else- including their jobs! I applaud Mr. Noda and his willingness to rise above, but I fear that his voice will become the sound voice of reason lost among the screaming of teenage girls. To pull Japan together, these guys need to work together and put their differences aside- a tall order for most politicians.

Prime Minister Noda has his head on straight regarding keeping the country’s economic status as his primary focus; however, he will soon have to face the evil rules of political games. In his attempt to play mediator he will find it difficult, especially with keeping good terms with the LDP. In regards to Ozawa: The DPJ must put aside political differences and look forth in their arguments in terms of policy rather than politicians. Same for the LDP- Ozawa is down, and he’ll be down for a while, focus on a liberal approach to Japanese policy and be done with it. This he-said she-said will go nowhere except in your economic downfall!